Emperorsguard
The 'Emperorsguard '''is an elite group of fourteen knights, who can be male or female, supposedly the greatest and most skilled warriors in all of Essos, who serve as the imperial bodyguard of the Emperor of the Further East. Their duty is to protect the emperor and the imperial family from harm at all times. The Emperorsguard swear the most holy of vows to fulfill their sacred duty, and - in theory - are meant to be the living exemplars of the pinnacle of knightly virtues. Unlike the brothers of the Night's Watch or the Westerosi Kingsguard, members of the Emperorsguard are not sworn for life and aren't forbidden from owning land, taking a spouse, or having children. Once they've sworn their vows, the knights will be serving for at least twenty years as members of the Emperorsguard, and for any number of additional years they feel like after that. The Emperorsguard wear signature all-black cloaks, and silver armour with extensive black enameling. This is not without a reason as they are made in the opposite colours of the Kingsguard, called in Westerors the "White Cloaks", or the "White Swords", and therefore the members of the Emperorsguard are known throughout Essos as "Black Cloaks", or the "Black Swords". During the first years of the Emperorsguard they wore a dark red armour with a three-headed black dragon on it, the sigil of House Blackfyre. Although it was the official armour until the Empire was established, Alaehra only started wearing the Emperorsguard default armour after its definitive change, and for the first years wore her Kingsguard armour instead. Although for over three centuries prior to Alaehra joining them, the Seven Kingdoms simply never had a female knight joining the Kingsguard, and it changed again after Robert's Rebellion, Vaenar did not make such a rule and explicitly granted his twin sister the title of ''Ser ''as a way to officialise the participation of women in his Emperorsguard. While in Westeros titles can override each other, it is not the same in the empire, as Alaehra owns both the titles of ''Princess ''and ''Ser ''at the same time. The Emperorsguard was created in 298 AC by the the Black Emperor Vaenar Blackfyre, when he united the lands of the Further East of Essos under a single monarchy and established the Ruby Throne in the city of Nefer. Unlike Aegon the Conqueror, Vaenar has allowed some of his subjects to keep the title of ''King rather than Warden, as with the current King of the recently reestablished kingdom of N'ghai, though in this case Vaenar has also declared himself the ruling king, mostly due to it being the capital of his empire, like the Crownlands in the Seven Kingdoms. The deeds of every knight who has ever served in the Emperorsguard is to be kept in a large book called The Book of Legends ''in the same way the members of the Kingsguard are all registered in ''The Book of Brothers. The book is stored in the Black Sword Tower, and it is the responsibility of the Lord or Lady Commander to keep all entries updated. Also unlike the Kingsguard, the Emperorsguard is led by the Lord Commander, who is always supposed to be the Emperor or Empress as a symbolic way of saying the ruling monarch is an oath sibling and therefore an equal rather than a better. While in the Kingsguard the Lord Commander does not have any marks on his armour to distinguish him from other members, in the Emperorsguard since the Lord or Lady Commander is also the ruling monarch they are not required to wear an armour, and when they do, they wear a black one with a red cloak and ornamental patterns of gold all over it. Under normal circumstances, the Commander does not directly command the Emperorsguard and as such points a lieutenant to care care of business, who usually sits on the Small Council as the Emperor's adviser in military matters. However, Alaehra Targaryen does not sit on her brother Vaenar's Small Council due to a personal lack of interest in politics. Past Rosters Current members Westerosi Kingsguards Iron Throne's Kingsguard Renly Baratheon's Kingsguard Image gallery References Trivia Category:Military organizations Category:Culture & Society Category:Kingsguard